Week 4 This week you worked on your production

What were One strength of my production is the visual effects that I’ve created and
your used. The song has a very psychedelic feel to it and I managed to capture
production this kind of feel with the effects that I used. Some of these effects included
strengths? mirrors, warps, displaces, dismounts and de-pixelisation, all of which distorted
the footage in a way that made it look trippy and strange. I have used all of
these effects on many different parts of the video. For example, I used the
mirror effect on the footage from London to make the world look like it is
being shifted around, I used the turbulent displace effect on the wooded
areas to make it seem like the trees are melting and I used a dismount on
the artists face to make it look like he is being cloned . I also created lots of
masks and green screens which allowed me to place footage in, around
and behind things, making lots of psychedelic visuals. This also added to the
idea that the character in the video is in a dream world and seeing crazy
things. All of these effects are entertaining to watch because they look really
satisfying. Because of this, the viewer wants to continue watching the video
because it is fun to watch. These kind of effects are often used in rap music
videos as well which is recognised and appreciated by the viewer.
As well as distorting the footage with different effects, I also used masking
and ultra-keying well in my music video. I used the masking tool to cut
around objects to remove them from their background or to remove parts of
the footage. This allowed me to place people and objects in the video in
unusual places, which also added to the idea that the character is in a
dream world. I also used key framing to move these things that I had cut out.
An example of this is I put a phone box in space, which then flew back
down to the ground and landed in a London street. I also used this
technique to make the rapper walk into a still image of himself which looked
really weird.
I also used the mask tool to cut parts of the video out, which allowed me to
place things behind or in certain things in the footage. This made it look like
something else was in these parts of the footage, creating fun and
interesting parts. For example, I cut the eyes out of the character to make it
look like there was a galaxy in his eyes. This also emphasised the idea of him
being in a dream world.

I also utilised Ultra keying well in the video as well. I used this tool to remove
backgrounds from the footage to replace it with something weird. This made
the video more interesting and fun to watch and further emphasised the
idea of the rapper being in a dream world. For example, throughout the
video I replaced the sky with a red storm which made the video more
interesting and created a sinister atmosphere, making it seem as if he’s in a
nightmare. This also emphasised the idea that he’s in a dream world.
Another good thing about the music video was the camera angles used.
Rap videos often use close up and low angles to show that the rapper has
power over the viewer, and these angles were used in my video for the
same reason, making the actor seem like a believable rapper. I also used
lots of wide angles to show how the rapper is exploring the dream world and
watching everything warp around him. The wide angles help to keep his
whole body in shot which allowed me to add lots of effects to him, as well as
adding lots of effects to his surroundings.

Another good thing about the video was the clothing that the actor wore.
Usually rappers wear expensive/designer clothing to show off their wealth,
and the actor in my video also wore these kinds of clothes to have the same
effect. He also wore an expensive chain and watch. This shows to the
viewer that the artist is rich, adding to the idea that they live a better life
than the viewer. This makes the actor in my video seem more realistic as if he
is actually the artist performing the song.
 Another positive thing about the video was the use of colour. Most of the
background footage, such as the woods and the footage from London,
contained very dull colours, mainly greys and browns. These are the colours
of the trees in the woods and the buildings in London, as well as what most
people were wearing whilst walking around London. On the other hand, the
actor wore extremely bright colours, such as white and yellow, which helped
him stand out from these dull backgrounds. This helps to draws the viewers’
attention to him, emphasising the idea that he is better than everyone else,
a very common theme in most rap videos. The colour of the field is also very
bright, as well as some of the effects, such as the galaxy. This further adds to
the idea that he is in a dream world. I also added certain bold things in the
background of the video that also stood and became recurring themes in
the video. For example, the London bus and the telephone box were
coloured bright red and were recurring objects in the video that grabbed
the viewers’ attention. I also replaced the sky in a lot of the shots with a
red/orange storm. Red is usually associated with anger and violence,
something that most rappers like to associate with as to show how tough
they are. I decided to use these colours as it showed that the artist in the
video is tough.

I also got feed back from my peers about my music video. The first question
was ‘Does the video fit within the rap genre?’, which everyone said it did. I
think this was because of the stereotypical camera angles used, the
expensive clothing worn and the trippy editing, all of which are usualy used
in rap videos. When asked if the video matched the song everone said that
it did, including the fact that effects in the video match the song. When
asked about the editing, everyone said that it was very good because
‘timed a lot of the cuts with the beat and have experimented a lot with
different effects’.

What were
your
production One of the weaknesses for my production was the fact that the two different
weaknesses? settings didn’t match. Although the footage from London allowed me to
create unusual effects, it didn’t fit in with the narrative of the song and was
just used randomly throughout the music video. It didn’t fit in with the idea of
the character waking up in a fantasy land as it was an urban setting instead
of woods and fields like the rest of the settings. The field setting is also
something that isn’t used much in rap music videos. To improve, I would
make sure that the settings used in the video matched the narrative of the
song.

Another problem with the music video is the fact that not many people were
used. We only had one performer despite the fact that there are 3 rappers in
the song. This meant that we had to fill the other rappers footage with just B-
roll and no performance parts. This broke the video up as there were chunks
of performance parts and just narrative parts. The lack of actors also made
the rapper seem less powerful as generally in rap videos they are surrounded
by lots of people. This made the rapper seem less believable in the video. In
the future I would make sure that booked actors more in advance so that
we could use more people.

Another negative was the fact that the narrative was very loose. The only
thing that showed a clear narrative was the start and end, showing him
going into a dream world then waking up and leaving, with footage of him
in the dream world in between. The footage him in the dream world didn’t
have much of a narrative as it was mainly just him performing and walking
around looking at everything around him. To improve, I would make sure
that I film more clear narrative footage rather than just B-roll.

When asking for improvements in my survey, most people commented on

the fact that the camera is a bit shaky and also blurry at some points. To
make sure that this wouldn’t happen again, I would make sure that I would
use a tripod to keep the camera still. Someone also said that I could improve
the editing if I practised more, which I agree with. To improve at editing I
should practise more so that edits become cleaner and more refined.
Another thing that I got told to improve was the story line, and the fact that
it should have a clearer narrative. To improve this, I would include less
performance parts and more narrative footage.

How did you We worked well as group. When researching we split the work up between
work as a us so that one of us had primary research and the other had secondary
group? research, then told us each other’s results. This allowed us to work faster. We
also split the planning up between us which allowed us to both contribute
our own ideas towards the video. When filming, we both filmed the same
thing from different angles so we could get different shots.

We worked well as a team because we both gave lots of ideas and had
good communication skills which allowed us to explain these ideas to each
 other well.

Complete a The Magnolia music video contains lots of psychedelic and trippy scenes
written that mess with the viewers head. Many of the scenes contain warped and
comparison twisted videos that are mirrored and merged together to create weird and
of your work confusing transitions between scenes. My music video also uses similar
to effects that distort the footage in weird ways to provide a peculiar feel to
professional the video. Some of these effects include mirrors, warps, displaces, dismounts
and de-pixelisation. Both music videos use these effects as they are strange
productions
and satisfying to watch, helping to keep the viewer entertained throughout
you
the video. However, the effects used in the Magnolia video are created to a
researched
higher standard and have a cleaner look than the ones used in my videos. I
previously.
think this is because they follow a more specific pattern, whereas the ones
Use I’ve used are created more randomly.
screenshots
of both
productions
to support
your analysis.

The Magnolia video also uses lots of masking and key framing which make
the scenes look even weirder. These masks are used to cut people out from
the background and place them over these trippy scenes. These scenes are
filmed in extreme wide angles to include as many people, objects and
buildings as possible which helps to make the weird effects more prominent.
My music video also uses masks to create more weird effects, however they
are used in different ways. I have used masking to cut and place people
and objects in the video in unusual places. For example, I placed a phone
box in space. I also used the mask tool to cut parts of the video out, which
allowed me to place things behind or in certain things in the footage. For
example, I replaced the artist eyes with the Milky Way. These shots are good
as they are interesting and fun to watch with so many things going on that
grab the viewers’ attention. These help to keep the viewer watching as they
want to see more of these scenes. The trippy feel of them also matches the
unusual songs, which emphasises the fact that the artists is different to
everyone else. However, I feel that I used masks more effectively in my music
video as I placed people and objects in more creative places.
In the Magnolia video, most of the colours have been toned down to make
the scene look bland and boring. However, certain brighter colours, such as
reds, purples and yellows, have been made bolder to draw the viewers’
attention to certain areas. For example, there is a guy dancing who is
dressed in yellow and red which stands out from the plain background. I did
a similar thing in my video - most of the background footage, such as the
woods and the footage from London, contained very dull colours, mainly
greys and browns, whereas the actor wore extremely bright colours, such as
white and yellow, which helped him stand out from these dull backgrounds.
This helps to draws the viewers’ attention to him, emphasising the idea that
he is better than everyone else. However, I think that the Magnolia video did
better with the colouring as it has had certain colours made bolder.

Both music videos use a city as one of the locations. The location used for
the Magnolia video is New York City. This has been used effectively as New
York is a busy place full of lots of people, allowing for more things to take
place at once in the video. It also contains lots of interesting buildings which
have been used to create lots of interesting effects. For example, the mirror
effect has been used a lot on these buildings because it is trippy and fun to
look at. I filmed a lot of the scenes for my music video in London. London
also contains lots of interesting and grand buildings and is very busy,
allowing for many effects to be added. However, I feel that Magnolia
utilised the setting better as it had more mirror effects added. Magnolia was
also set in some more run down areas of New York, creating the idea that
they grew up poor in a rough area then made lots of money and now have
expensive things. I feel that these two settings matched each other better
than the city and field setting in my video, creating a more coherent story.
However, I also feel that the use of the field in my music video was important
for the narrative of the video, as it was used to show that he was in a dream
world. But overall I think that Magnolia used the setting more effectively.

In both music videos the artists wealth is shown clearly to the viewer to make
them jealous of the life that the artist live. In Magnolia, the artist shows off his
wealth to the viewer to show how much better he is than everyone else and
to show off the luxurious life style he now lives, despite growing up in poverty.
This emphasises the idea of a rise to fame and fortune. He shows off his
wealth by wearing expensive designer clothes and jewellery, as well using
lots of notes in shots. For example in the club scene there are people
counting loads of money, showing that he makes lots of money. In my video,
the actor wears an expensive coat and an expensive chain and watch. This
shows to the viewer that the artist is rich, adding to the idea that they live a
better life than the viewer. This makes the actor in my video seem more
realistic as if he is actually the artist performing the song.